Broadway Box Office: ‘Othello’ Leads ‘Wicked’ as Overall Grosses Climb

Othello broke the record for highest weekly gross for a Broadway play last week, and was the top-grossing show in the industry for the second week in the row. 

The play, starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal, brought in $2.8 million in its second week of previews and played to 100 percent capacity at the Barrymore Theatre. Ticket prices are high, with an average price of $338.09, which is hundreds above the next highest ticket prices of $158 at Wicked and Hamilton. 

Still, the prices are below the highs reached during the prior week, when the show commanded an average ticket price of $361.90. The play, directed by Kenny Leon, is scheduled to open March 23. 

Othello again beat out Wicked, which had been the highest grossing show over the past several months. Wicked took the second spot last week, with $2.4 million, followed by Hamilton with $1.7 million, The Lion King with $1.5 million and The Outsiders with $1.3 million. 

Overall, this season to date is up 18 percent compared to last season. Grosses also climbed compared to last week, with total gross up 5 percent and attendance up 3 percent, as Broadway hurtles toward the spring, which brings more than a dozen new shows opening ahead of the Tonys eligibility cutoff on April 27.

Those shows include A Picture of Dorian Gray, starring Sarah Snook, and Glengarry Glen Ross, starring Kieran Culkin, Bob Odenkirk and Bill Burr. Both plays began previews Monday. Good Night and Good Luck, starring George Clooney, starts previews Wednesday.

Current shows in previews include the new musical Buena Vista Social Club, which brought in $773,353 in its third week of previews, and its first eight-show week, and played to 92 percent capacity at the Schoenfeld Theatre. The musical is set to open March 19. 

Operation Mincemeat, another new musical that transferred to Broadway from the West End, brought in $606,652 across seven performances, which is below the tallies of the prior two weeks, and played to 100 percent capacity at the Golden Theatre. The musical is scheduled to open March 20.